Disclaimer: White Collar belongs to USA Network and Jeff Eastin.

Chapter 21

Peter was sitting in the waiting room with a look that could only be described as shell-shocked. He barely seemed to notice as Elizabeth bent down to kiss him and handed him his coffee. He put it on the table in front of him and it remained there, untouched until he finished recounting his conversation with Neal.

Elizabeth sat down beside Peter while Mozzie pulled up a chair to face them on the other side of the coffee table. He was unusually quiet as he stared at Peter with a concerned expression. Elizabeth, perhaps with subconscious forethought, took a handkerchief from her purse and started playing with it nervously. She looked expectantly at Peter, who seemed reluctant to speak.

Finally, Peter sighed and looked first at Elizabeth and then at Mozzie.

"I pumped Neal with the maximum amount of meds the machine would allow. Everything he told me could be construed as having been obtained under duress, so I will not be putting any of this in his file. I'll give an overview to Hughes and to Diana and Jones but not the details. That's for you two only and please, let's keep it that way. I don't know how aware he'll be on what he told me, but I'm pretty sure he would rather no one knew any of it. I'll tell him that I shared it with you guys, but unless he raises it, I am not planning on saying anything more to him. Are you both okay with that?"

Elizabeth and Mozzie both nodded solemnly.

"Mozzie, if you have any information to fill in the gaps can we keep it just between us also?"

"Of course, Suit. You have my word," Mozzie replied.

Normally, Peter would have been quick with some smart comment about just what the conman's word was worth, but this time things were different. He knew that Mozzie was just as concerned about Neal as Elizabeth and he were, maybe more so given his history with Neal, now that Peter understood better just what an enormous influence Mozzie had been on Neal's life.

Peter pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed again, unsure what to say next.

Elizabeth, picking up on his hesitation, took his hand and quietly said, "How about you just start at the beginning, hon?"

Peter turned to her and smiled, grateful for her prompting. Then he dropped his gaze to the table in front of him and began.

"The day of the photos, Neal and Jennika and a bunch of other kids were playing ball while they waited for the school bus. Neal kicked the ball over the fence next to the school yard and went to get it. While over there, he noticed some apples on the ground and stopped to fill his pockets. Just then, the bus came and their friends high-tailed it. They asked the driver to wait, and he did for a while but when Neal and Jennika didn't catch up, he left. The reason for the delay was that Neal's pants got caught on the fence as he wriggled back under because of the apples in his pockets. He managed to squirm out of his pants and took off running for the bus, but Jennika called him back to get dressed. By the time she'd pulled the pants free and got him back into them, the bus had gone. To this day, Neal is convinced that everything that then befell them was his fault for stealing the apples."

"Oh, no," Elizabeth moaned. "He can't take that out on himself. It was just a childish prank. He didn't even go over there with the intention of taking the apples. No way is he to be blamed for anything. You did tell him that didn't you, Peter?" she asked anxiously.

"Of course, repeatedly, but he refuses to see it any other way," Peter replied sadly.

Peter continued, "They started walking, eating apples and giggling at Neal sprinting after the bus sans pants. The journey home was not far, but at some point they became aware that a police car had pulled up beside them. Their first thought was that they were in trouble about the apples, and that the owner had seen them and called the cops. So when the officer told them to get into the car, they did exactly as they were told. It was quite some time before they realized that they were headed out of town and started asking where they were going.

"You'll find out soon enough, was the only response they got, so they shut up and sat tight. Eventually they both nodded off, and when Jennika woke Neal, they were parked outside a farmhouse, in the middle of nowhere. The officer was out of uniform and leaning against a small well next to the car. He was drinking a beer and watching them through the open car door. Once they had both sat up, he ordered them out of the car and had them stand in front of the porch to the house. Neal said that he never wore the uniform again for as long as they stayed with him. Apparently, the next day he drove the patrol car away and came home with a station wagon."

Peter raked his hand through his hair and swallowed. Elizabeth and Mozzie were on the edge of their seats, both with shocked expressions.

"Do you think he really was a cop?" Mozzie asked.

"Neal doesn't know. He can't remember enough about his uniform to know if it was real or not. Neither he nor Jennika ever asked him about it. They just assumed he was," Peter replied.

Elizabeth tsked and shook her head in dismay. Peter squeezed her hand before continuing.

"The man had them wait there while he disappeared off into a small barn that was on the property. When he came back he had a dog with him, on a chain. He was also carrying a thick stick. In the middle of the property there was a concrete slab with a metal D-ring on top. He attached the chain to the ring and told the kids to come forward. He said that the dog had disobeyed him and so it would be punished. He then proceeded to beat the dog unconscious."

"The bastard!" Mozzie exclaimed. "What kind of sicko pulls a stunt like that?"

"Neal said that at first he and Jennika were too stunned to do anything, but then the dog's eyes rolled back so they were just white, and Neal lost it. He started yelling at the man, trying to grab his hand. For this, the man backhanded him, knocking him to the ground. He says he can still remember face planting into the dirt, the taste of blood and mud mixing as he lost his front teeth on impact. It was the first time in his life that he had ever been hit."

As he said it, Peter remembered slapping Neal in the surveillance van just two days before. He suddenly felt overwhelmed with guilt at what he had done and put his head in his hands with a moan. Elizabeth immediately wrapped her arm around him and tried to sooth him. Both she and Mozzie were unaware of Peter's hitting Neal and assumed his distress was because of the story he was telling.

"Oh god. I hit him too, El," Peter groaned. "After all he's been through, I hit him too."

Elizabeth looked shocked and unconsciously drew away from him.

"What are you talking about Peter? You've never hit Neal," she said and then, when he didn't reply, added "Have you?"

Peter lifted his head and looked at her shamefully. He told her and Mozzie about what happened in the van, unaware that as he did so, he started to cry.

Elizabeth, although still shocked at the thought of Peter hitting anyone, let alone Neal, took his hand again.

"No matter what possessed you to hit him. What you did was nothing like what this monster did to him. You have to believe that, Peter."

"Oh god, Suit. This is all my fault. I promise you Neal had nothing to do with getting Jennika out of that bank. It was me. I am so sorry." Mozzie added woefully.

Peter wiped his eyes and looked at Mozzie. "No, Mozzie, it's not your fault. I should never have raised a hand to him. I don't know what came over me."

"I'm with Elizabeth on this one, Peter," Mozzie replied, for once using their real names. "You can't beat yourself up over it. Neal has clearly been through a lot worse than a slap from you and, knowing you, I am sure you have already apologized to him more than enough."

Peter was surprised and comforted that both Mozzie and Elizabeth were so quick to forgive him on what he regarded as a dreadful abuse of his position over Neal. It was true that it was physically nothing compared to what Neal had experienced. But it was the abuse of trust that he was sure Neal had felt so keenly. He vowed to never again lay a finger on his friend, no matter how much Neal might madden him.

"Tell us what happened next," Elizabeth said, wanting to get Peter's focus off the incident in the van.

"Next, the man gave them both shovels and made them dig a hole. They were so little and so scared, it took them the rest of the afternoon. Neal said that at that point he was still thinking he was about to be beaten as well to punish him for taking the apples. Can you imagine how terrified he must have been? When the hole was finally dug to the man's satisfaction, he went back to the car and returned with a rifle. Then he told them that if they ever tried to run away from him, he would hunt them down and kill them with that same gun. Once he'd finished threatening them he shot the dog and kicked its body into the pit. Then he set fire to it, and when that went out, he had them fill in the hole. He hauled the slab over the top, warning that this was where he would bury them if they ever attempted to escape."

Peter fell silent. He had intended to go on but the words stalled in his throat. He swallowed loudly and took a deep breath before stumbling through the final part of that first fateful day of Neal and Jennika's captivity.

"Then he left them there."

He looked up at Elizabeth and Mozzie, barely seeing them through his tear-filled eyes.

"They spent that night curled up together beside the slab."

The three of them sat is silence, the same image in each of their heads; the two kindergartners alone in the dark. As awful as that image was, thankfully none of them was aware of the full extent of the children's suffering. Even in his drug-addled state Neal had held back what he couldn't bear to tell Peter.

He hadn't revealed what else went into the pit and was burnt along with the ill-fated dog.

TBC

Thank you lstudsfor beta reading and fact checking.